(Reuters.com) – When Robert Reid last visited London from the U.S. for a short trip he stayed in an apartment he found on a ‘couch-surfing’ site in the off-the-beaten north London suburb of Muswell Hill.

“I wanted to be at the place where The Kinks were from,” says Reid. “The people were super and it gave me a great outlook on London and I appreciate the city more than I did before.”

(Reuters.com) – What do the InterContinental in Chicago, the Loews Vanderbilt in Tennessee, the Hollywood Hotel, most Kimpton’s hotels and all of Starwood’s Element hotels have in common?

They all boast onsite electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

Although EV ownership represents just a tiny slice of the car market – plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) like the Chevrolet Volt, extended range EVs and all-electric vehicles (AEVs) like the Nissan Leaf account for 0.3 percent of U.S. sales according to the Electric Drive Transportation Association – car rental firms are steadily adding more electric vehicles to their fleets.

(Reuters.com) – The majority of European companies said they maintained their business travel budgets in 2012 according to an industry survey released on Wednesday, with travel spend to be protected from cuts next year.

American Express Global Business Travel takes a Barometer of the business travel landscape on an annual basis to analyse corporate travel spend and firms’ adherence to travel policies. In its 2012 survey of over 500 European companies the travel management firm found that 63 percent of them maintained their business travel budgets in the last year, with 23 percent increasing travel spending.

(Reuters.com) – A hotel stay might have once been thought of as an opportunity to overindulge on rich buffet food, multiple luxuriant baths and mini-bar nightcaps, but is the modern business traveller more likely to demand gluten-free breakfasts, in-room yoga mats and a green-energy policy?

Properties have been responding to consumer demand as they adapt to becoming the venues in which environmentally aware, health conscious people want to stay, eat, play, exercise and relax.

LONDON (Reuters) – Luxury shopping trips for the nouveaux riches, gadget-free accommodation and booking holidays on smart TVs are some of the future travel trends predicted in a new report released on Monday.

The “Global Trends Report” by market research firm Euromonitor International predicted a continued rise in holiday packages which cater to tourists on shopping trips, a recovery in Middle East visits following the Arab Spring and Americans interested in destinations that have previously been off-limits.

(Reuters.com) – Should high-flyers charter a private jet on an ad hoc basis, tie their money up in a jet card, or buy shares in a fractional scheme?

On a jet card’s pros list is convenience: Users don’t have to exchange contracts or make payments each time they arrange a flight. One call and they can be off on an impulse flight in a matter of hours, the cost debited from their card.

(Reuters.com) – If work-related stress is a “21st-century disease”, as the International Labour Organization puts it, what happens when a busy travel schedule is added to the equation?

According to a new study by a corporate travel agency, business travellers suffer especially keenly from stress. Using data gleaned from 6,000 travellers, Carlson Wagonlit Travel CWT.L found that unpleasant ‘surprises’ like flight delays and luggage loss were the highest trigger of stress, especially for female travellers who were also more fazed by ‘routine breakers’ like not being able to eat healthily.

(Reuters.com) – If work-related stress is a “21st-century disease”, as the International Labour Organization puts it, what happens when a busy travel schedule is added to the equation?

According to a new study by a corporate travel agency, business travellers suffer especially keenly from stress. Using data gleaned from 6,000 travellers, Carlson Wagonlit Travel CWT.L found that unpleasant ‘surprises’ like flight delays and luggage loss were the highest trigger of stress, especially for female travellers who were also more fazed by ‘routine breakers’ like not being able to eat healthily.